Frazer promotes Sgt. Aaron Scott to police chief

Not much will change for Frazer police Sgt. Aaron Scott after being promoted to chief this week.

“It’s just a new uniform and a different badge,” he said. “It’s still work as usual.”

Supervisors approved the appointment eight months after the death of former Chief Terry Kuhns. Scott, 39, had been running the department as officer-in-charge since April.

“How we’ve been operating has been working pretty good,” Scott said. “There isn’t anything now that’s like, ‘Oh I’m chief, I have to change things.

“I just want to invest in the guys that we have and get them as much training as we can.”

Scott started as a part-time officer in 2010, a couple of years after the township’s police force was formed in conjunction with the opening of the Pittsburgh Mills shopping mall.

He has been a sergeant the past six years.

“I was here under Chief Kuhns, and we worked together well,” Scott said.

His salary is about $85,000.

At one time, Scott and Kuhns were the only full-time officers patrolling the township. The department since has grown to include four full-timers and one part-timer.

Hiring is something Scott plans to accomplish this year but acknowledged the challenges of a widespread police shortage. He hopes to increase the staff by two full-time positions.

Supervisor Vice Chairman William Creevey said the township did not seek job candidates for the chief’s position from a public pool.

“We had no need to,” Creevey said. “He has all the qualifications, and he was trained well by Chief Kuhns.”

Scott interacts well with the public, Creevey said, and was “the best route to go.”

Lori Ziencik, township supervisor and secretary, said the vote was unanimous among the three board members.

The trio agreed in April not to jump into a search for a new chief because they wanted to give everyone time to grieve after Kuhns’ death.

“It took time to go through the mourning process, but we also wanted to see how he would do as acting chief,” Ziencik said.

“We felt he did excellent. He was trained by one of the best, so why would we search elsewhere?”